The Uchiha Family
by pietaker
Summary: Sasuke leaves Konoha leaving a heartbroken Naruto behind, yet on that same night Naruto receives a visit from a certain weasel. Years later Sasuke returns to Konoha to take Naruto for himself only to find that he was too late, upon meeting a young child that greatly resembles his older brother in almost every aspect, he soon learns the truth of his clan, Itachi, and Naruto. ItaNaru
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Sasuke leaves Konoha to go to Orochimaru leaving a heartbroken Naruto behind, yet on that same night Naruto receives a visit from a certain later Sasuke returns to Konoha to take Naruto for himself only to find that he was too late, upon meeting a young child that greatly resembles his older brother in almost every aspect, and in turns of events actually meets his brother inside the village walls. Sasuke later finds out that painful truth about Naruto and The Uchiha Massacre.**

**Warnings: OCC (yup lots and lots of it baby), some good ol' fluff, romance, bad language, a bit of violence, Mpreg (ah yes, the man babies), and slight angst**

**Pairings: Itachi x Naruto, and side parings (not going to lie I still haven't decided)**

**Disclaimer: Plot belongs to me, rest belongs to Kishimoto**

**I am hopeless at writing, but I still hope you guys will enjoy my story. I was listening to "Fix You - Coldplay" and "The Scientist - Coldplay", so I recommend it.**

-/-

_Prologue:The Beginning_

Dark gloomy clouds shrouded the star dazzled midnight sky, the strong howls of the chilling wind roared relentlessly throughout the night. Street lamps that aligned the dirt roads and paved streets flickered on attracting little creatures of the night. The streets that ran throughout Konoha echoed with silence and emptiness, nothing was heard other than the rushing wind and the sound of tapping feet.

As Uchiha Sasuke, one of the last of the Uchiha clan, neared the large gates of Konohagakure, he was suddenly stopped when he heard the voice of someone very familiar running from behind him calling _out_ his name. Rushing towards him from behind was a blonde boy dressed in an almost all orange attire. When Naruto had finally caught up to Sasuke, he stopped and stared at the young Uchiha until he burst out with pleas

"Sasuke, please... you can't go! Please, just stay here in Konoha with everybody else!"

The raven haired boy didn't turn around to look into the eyes of the pleading boy, he only stood where he was, his pale face shrouded with shadows.

"No. I have to go... I need to become stronger! So I can finally beat my brother and get my revenge, for both my sake and my clansmen! He needs to be punished for his deeds... And for all the years I've had to suffer through because of that heartless bastard!"

The young Uchiha spat out

"Sasuke..."

Sasuke growled with anger and resentment, his teeth tightly clenched together and almost grinding, his pale hands were balled up into a fist shaking from ire. However, even though Sasuke spoke with nothing but selfish and angry words Naruto's eyes only saddened with pity, his cerulean eyes faltering under the street light.

"You don't have to go... You can become stronger here! Along with everybody else! We can help you find your brother! So Just stay dammit!"

'Stop... Please... Don't hurt me more than you already have... Sasuke!'

Naruto bit his bottom lip as his small lean figure trembled.

"No... This place can't give me enough power... I need power! And since this place can't provide me with what I need then I have no reason to stay here any longer..."

With that, he began to walk off towards the gate.

"No... Please... Why don't you understand dammit... I love you for gods sake! Why don't you just get a damn clue already! You damn _TEME_!"

Naruto screamed out with all his might, his eyes tightly shut, and his balled up fists shook from all his bottled frustrations. The raven haired boy stopped, and just like the last, his head never turned back, not even to take a single glance at the blondes distressed and flustered face. For a while there was nothing but the cold bitter silence between them, when suddenly the Uchiha spoke.

"I'm sorry... But you can't stop me, there's no turning back for me, not now... I can't return your feelings, it'll only drag me down... I'm sorry... Thank you for everything... Naruto... I'm glad I met you and was able to become someone important to you, but this is something I have to do no matter what the cost maybe... So farewell..."

And with his finale words he began his pace once more and walked off into the distance, disappearing into the night, never once looking back to see the blonde boy fall hopelessly to his knees staring blankly to the ground as if to search for any last shred of shattered hope. That is until his heart finally gave out beneath all the pressure, hot tears streamed down his face, his hoarse voice cried out to the heavens for relief. However, unknown to either of the two boys that there had been a third party silently observing the tragic scene from afar, his cold crimson eyes never looking away from the broken boy. Alas, when the stranger could no longer sit and bare to watch such a painful scene he jumped out from the shadow of the trees and landed directly in front of the crying boy. Naruto was about to lift his head to get a look of who the stranger was until he was suddenly pulled into a deep hug by strong arms. Muscular arms tightly wrapped themselves around the small body, the stranger buried his face into the boy's shoulder never wanting to separate from the warmth of the smaller boy.

Naruto was in a daze and had no idea what was currently going on and exactly who the strange person was, but honestly, none of that mattered to him at the moment, his heart had just been scarred and he needed this comfort, he needed the warmth, and the feeling of being protected and wanted. He slowly reached up and wrapped his trembling arms around the man's neck and drew his face deep into his broad shoulder. His warm tears finally stopped and his painful cries faded into small whimpers and sniffles. Naruto's vision began to blur, but before he could pass out he finally got to hear the stranger's voice.

"Naruto-kun... I promise I'll never look away from you, I will always be watching you and you alone... No matter what I won't turn away, ever... So please, don't shed your tears anymore... Not for someone like him, especially not for someone who can't even look you in the eyes..."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at the mans sweet words, but soon his eyes began to slowly flutter close.

'This voice... Why does it sound so... familiar?... I'm sure I've heard it somewhere before...'

After sometime instead of falling asleep with a sad look, he ended up falling asleep in the stranger's warm and comfortable arms with a gentle smile spread on his face.

Itachi lightly sighed with relief as he listened to the gentle pattern of Naruto's breathing. He slowly raised one of his cold pale hands and used the sleeve of his cloak to delicately wipe away the boy's tears, after he wiped away Naruto's tears and dried his face he brought his hand up to lightly stroke the boy's beautiful golden hair that shined ever so brightly even in the darkness of the night. After a few minutes of his one-sided cuddling, he decided that it would be best not to be sitting in the middle of the road while having a boy no more than 13 sitting in his lap while there could be the possibility of Konoha leaf-nin patrolling the streets. He carefully hooked one of his arms under the boy's legs while his other arm around the boy's small back carrying him bridal style, he stood up and disappeared within a swirl of leaves. Once Itachi appeared within Naruto's apartment bedroom, he walked over to the boy's bed and gently and unwillingly set him down as though he would break if he handled him too harshly. Removing Naruto's shoes and setting them as side he grabbed the boy's blanket and gently covered the child's small frame. After tucking the boy in the raven took a step back and simply stare down at the sleeping boy like a creeper. Itachi sighed as his eyes continued to gaze upon the unconscious child.

'My otouto has caused quite the trouble tonight... However, even if he is my younger brother and had thankfully refused my little one's confession, I still cannot forgive him for making my little one cry like this...'

Itachi carefully sat himself down beside the dreaming boy and began to tenderly stroke Naruto's soft sunshine hair brushing away the strands of hair that covered his eyes. His cold dark obsidian eyes never left the boy's beautiful delicate face. He leaned down to the boy's tan ear and began to whisper sweet words as his warm breaths caressed the blonde's ear

"You know Naruto-kun, I'm in with love you, I really really am in with love you... All my life I've done nothing but watch and protect you from afar... But now as my feelings towards you become stronger I continue to find it increasingly hard to stay away from you... I want to hold you close within my arms and never let you escape my grasp... It's so hard for me not to steal you and keep you for myself... I love you Naruto-kun, I love you so much that you make me become such a coward that I can't even tell you directly how I feel about you, but what I'm not a coward about is coming back to take you for myself, so you better watch out in the near future because one day I might not be able to hold myself back and end up taking you far away..."

He moved from the blonde's ear and drew his face closer to the boy's face until his cold pale lips met warm ones. When the raven finally parted himself from the sleeping boy, he gave one last kiss to the boy's forehead and smiled whispering 'good night' before holding up two fingers and disappearing in a swirl of wind. However, unknown to the Uchiha that there had been an eavesdropper secretly listening in on the Uchiha's confession the _entire time_.

**"well well well, what do we have here~ it would seem that a certain weasel has fallen in love with my dear little kit~ humph, took you long enough Uchiha brat..."**

And so, as the demon faded into the darkness of the child's mind, the night became still and silent once again; silvery moonlight washed over the land at last as the once dark grey clouds parted and faded into the night sky.

-/-

Guy and Kakashi were taking an early morning stroll around the village discussing about the usual common everyday things they always talked about, Guy always going on about the power of youth and Kakashi just taking the pain and listening to grown man go on and on. Then Kakashi decided to bring up a usually untouched topic.

"Say Guy, I'm beginning to worry about Sasuke, he's been acting quite strange and douche baggy lately. I'm afraid he's planning to do something."

Kakashi gave and exasperated sigh as though he was already waiting for the world to end

"Isn't he always douche baggy?"

Guy so graciously added

"Yeah but more so than usual."

"Hmmm... Well I don't exactly know what's going on, but I will say that he has certainly been distant lately... Well more so than usual that is."

"Right? That's what I'm talking about. I have an uneasy feeling that it's going to be a problem that will cause quite a lot of trouble later on."

Suddenly, a shadowed figure swooped in from the shadows and landed a good distance away from the two Jounin's. The two men instantly jumped into their fighting stances with their kunai's in hand and within a split second were ready to fight. The shadowed figure didn't bother to move and only stood there glaring at the men. Then both Guy and Kakashi noticed two blood red circles glowing from the dark figure. No words were needed to tell that the man was none other than

"Uchiha Itachi... What business do you have here again, are you planning to take Naruto away again!"

Kakashi threateningly questioned. Itachi only scoffed and smirked angering the silver-haired Jounin even more

"Actually, I'm here by my own means, it has nothing to do with the goal of the Akatsuki I can assure you that. I've just finished taking care of some 'business' so I decided to wait here for someone to pass by so I could tell them the 'news'."

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed dangerously

"And what might this 'news' be"

"My otouto has left the village, he is planning to join Orochimaru in order to gain power to defeat me. It'd best if you go and stop him before he manages to reach that snake."

Kakashi sneered and continued to glare at the young adult

"And what's to make us believe that you're actually telling the truth and not just making up some story in order to find a chance to capture Naruto?"

'Though now that I think about, it's not that hard to believe... Sorry Sasuke, I'm doubting you right now...'

"Kakashi, you should know me better than that. I have no reason and nothing to gain from lying to you; however, it is your choice whether you choose to believe me or not. But I warn you... You should hurry."

The two adults slowly lowered their kunai's and began to relax out of their stances. Itachi turned away and was ready to leave, that is until he realized he had forgotten to answer one of the Kakashi's questions

"Oh, and I reassure you that I will take Naruto one day, so you best prepare for that as well... *smirks with Sharingan spinning wildly*"

And with that the mysterious weasel dispersed into fleeting crows and disappearing without a trace. The two Jounin's shivered and simply stood there contemplating the weasel's last words, it felt as though they could just feel the hidden meaning behind his words and especially behind that smirk of his, they looked nervously at each other as though fearing for the worst for the poor unaware blonde.

-/-

As the sun peeked over the mountains, morning skies shattered the night. Early morning sunlight crept through the window of a certain sleeping blonde. He stirred in his bed looking for a comfortable position to hide himself away from the intruding blinding rays of sunshine. Lousily he grumbled and decided to sit up in his bed, his half lidded eyes were fogged with sleep and his head full of nothingness. He made a big yawn stretching his arms out before falling back onto his bed, wrapping himself cozily with his blanket, and drifting off into sleep again. The great demon, that resided within the blonde, was now awake and gave a sigh and face palmed himself.

**"Uh kit?... Aren't you forgetting something important? Even though I could careless"**

Kurama reminded grumbling the last part to himself. There was a long silence before Naruto's eyes shot open and springing up from his bed in realization.

"Ahhhh! I forgot! Sasuke left the village! I have to go tell Tsunade-baa-chan about this quickly!"

**"Good job! Now get up."**

As he was about to hightail it out of there that was when the events of the night before came crashing down on him like a ton of bricks. He suddenly stopped and simply stood at his bedroom doorway, his face towards the ground and his trembling hands drawn into a tight fist. He bit down on his bottom lip and tightly shut his eyes trying to gather the rest of his broken heart in order to go tell the Hokage of the current situation.

**"Come on kit... If you want to save him you have to get it together and go save his dumb ass. Oh! and if you ever meet that man from last night again be sure to give him a proper 'thank you' from both me and you, you know, for comforting you last night~ *smirks*"**

Bam. There came the brick. Naruto dropped to his knees clenching his head and staring to the floor while blushing bright red. After remembering his embarrassing actions from the night before he couldn't bare the embarrassment and just wanted to crawl into a corner and fade away as though he never existed.

"Oh my god... Why am I such a dumbass! Seriously! What is wrong with me! I just crawled into some stranger arms and let them see me in such an embarrassing state! I can't believe myself! Oh god it must've been so awkward for that guy. I just suddenly clung to whoever showed even a little bit of kindness to me! Ugh, I just want to die!"

**"Hey hey, if you die, I die, so don't even think about it."**

Naruto pouted and proceeded to curl up into a ball and wallow in his own shame and humiliation.

**"*cough* ahem, sorry to intrude on your little... Wallowing, but I think you have forgotten that there's a certain dumbass that's getting farther and farther away from the village!"**

"crap..."

Naruto grumbled to himself. He got off the floor, gathered his wits, and ran out of his apartment quickly rushing towards the Hokage tower as fast as he could.

-/-

Without warning, Naruto suddenly burst through the Hokage's door yelling.

"Tsunade-baa-chan! Sasuke left-…. Huh? Why are you guys here?"

Already standing in the room were Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, Kiba, Lee, and Shino. They stared worryingly at the flustered blonde that burst in through the door uninvited. Tsunade stared at Naruto, anxiety clearly written over her features. Naruto slightly tilted his head in bewilderment.

"Naruto, how do you know about Sasuke leaving the village? You weren't there, were you?"

Shikamaru asked with a quirked eyebrow. As Naruto calmed his breathing his eyes drifted downwards meeting with the floor, his shaking hands were gripped tightly into a fist, and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah... I was there..."

Everyone in the room looked confused and silently exchanged glances with each other.

"If you knew why didn't you come and tell lady Tsunade sooner?"

Kiba questioned, Naruto gritted his teeth for a moment and proceeded to tell a summarized version of the story.

"Look, a lot of things happened and he left, I'm not going to go into detail so don't even bother asking. And then, well... There was this guy that came out of nowhere and helped me out, and before I knew it I passed out and ended up waking up in my apartment. I have no idea how that guy knew where I lived, but I just woke up in my bed, that's all I'll tell you."

Everyone could see the obvious distraught and frustrated look on the blonde's face. Figuring that it was probably a pretty sensitive topic they decided that it would probably be best to leave things at that.

"Ahem!... Anyways, back to the problem, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akamichi, Neji Hyuuga, Rock Lee, and Kiba Inuzuka, I want you all to go and retrieve Sasuke Uchiha-"

"Wait! I want to go too!"

Naruto demanded, determination plainly seen in his clear cerulean eyes. Tsunade's own eyes saddened with sympathy as she stared into Naruto's large sky blue ones.

"But Naruto-"

She didn't even get to finish her sentence when Naruto cut her off and proceeded to badger on

"No, please, you have to let me go... Please Tsunade..."

Tsunade's eyes widened and her mouth slightly gaped along with everyone else in the room. This was the first time Naruto had ever pronounced her name without calling her an old lady. There was no way that she could turn down the pleading blonde, especially when he looked at her with so much resolve in his eyes, voice, and face. The busty blond was reluctant to agree, but of course like everyone else who's gone against Naruto when he's had such an expression, she had no other choice. She closed her eyes for a short moment and she gave a heavy sigh.

"Very well then, but are you sure about this Naruto? I mean... You know..."

Naruto only continued to glared at her with tenacity. Tsunade gave another heavy defeated sigh, she lifted her head and gave a stern look to all those who were present.

"Alright then, retrieve the Uchiha! Failure is not an option! Dismissed!"

The young ninja's exited the room to prepare for departure. Once they had all gone, Tsunade rested her arm on her desk and propped her head in her palm and gave another discontented sigh for the zillionth time in just one morning. She turned around in her chair to gaze off into the distance beyond the village. It was so difficult to allow Naruto to go along with the others because she already knew of the Uzumaki's feelings for the youngest Uchiha. She was in fact one of two people that knew of the secret, the other being the prevy sage Jiraiya.

She didn't want Naruto to be forced fight against the person he loved and be hurt in the process, both physically and emotionally, she just couldn't handle the face of a disheartened Naruto.

Even though Tsunade would never admit it she loved the way Naruto smiled, she loved the way he was always so happy and energetic uplifting the hearts of everyone even during the saddest of times, she also loved his friendly and warm attitude towards everyone he met allowing himself to be deeply engraved into peoples hearts, and she especially loved the warm feeling she got whenever she was around the boy. Naruto made old forgotten feelings of happiness and comfort resurface in not only herself but everyone he came in contact with. Tsunade knew that if people were to see Naruto ever sad or hurt it would in no doubt break their hearts as well. No matter what, Naruto was always there to help and protect his friends no matter difficult the situation got, and because of this people were always willing to be there for him, but because Naruto was and still is always such a hard head and keeps all of his bottled up feelings of sadness, pain, and loneliness to himself no one could ever really tell when he needed comfort, instead he always wore that stupid smile of his, the smile that hid away the sadness of his soul and the aching of his heart, the smile that hid his tears and pained expression, the same smile that no matter what could always fool the world. She wished that one day there would come someone who could care for Naruto and give him all the love and affections he deserved, someone who could always see past the boy's smiling mask and comfort him when he needed it most, and above all, a person who would always be there for Naruto no matter what whether it be through the good or the bad, someone who would never leave his side.

Suddenly, something clicked in her mind.

"Hmmm... Now that I think about it... Kakashi reported that it was Itachi who had given him the information, and Kakashi also mentioned that Itachi had stated that he'd just finished taking care of some 'business'… And Naruto said that there was a stranger that helped him, plus the fact that he passed out and ended up waking up in his apartment... So could that stranger have been... Uchiha Itachi?... But why? Was he there on just a whim and decided to help Naruto? But then why was he even there in the first place? Exactly what kind of connection does Uchiha Itachi have with Naruto?... I don't understand... Wait, but if he was there for Naruto, he could've just taken him; however, Kakashi did tell me that he had said he was there on his own accord, but what business does he have here in Konoha? Damn, none of this makes sense, I feel like there's just one important component that I'm missing to solving the mystery... Geez, just what in the world is going on?"

Tsunade clicked her tongue and scratched her head in dissatisfaction, she sighed as she sagged into her chair allowing her facial expression to show every last bit of annoyance she felt at the moment.

-/-

In the end, Shikamaru's team managed to successfully return from their mission, thankfully without any losses, though each were heavily injured; however, other than their obviously battered bodies the one other thing that people noticed most were their defeated expressions when they had woken up from their recovery. Even though they had succeeded in defeating the enemies they were faced with they had heard from other ninja's and nurses that Naruto was unable to retrieve Sasuke, but that was not the reason why they wore such defeated expressions. The reason why was because they knew they'd have to face a disheartened Naruto, and everyone knew what that meant- smiles would not be seen for quite sometime until the blonde was fully healed.

Naruto was safely recovered by Kakashi and immediately brought to the Konoha Hospital to be treated. He laid asleep in bed for a few days slowly recovering from his injuries. He had a few quiet visits from his close friends every now a then, most hoping that the blonde wouldn't be too discouraged once he'd woken up, and thankfully that was what happened. When he'd woken up he had gone back to smiling like the idiot he was... But of course, only those who knew him well enough could plainly see that it was all nothing but an act; the only ones that managed to figure this out were Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Iruka, Shikamaru, Neji, Hinata, and Shino, the ones that were almost always the first to figure things out before everyone else, especially when it came down to Naruto. To them, they could clearly hear the almost unnoticeable hoarseness of his voice, the sadness hidden away in his dull blue eyes, and the forced smile he put up as a way to fool people into believing that he was 'fine'.

Not too long after Naruto had woken up from his long sleep in the hospital, Tsunade was going to his room to examine him. When she reached his room she silently opened the door just in case the boy happened to have been sleeping. She quietly entered the bright naturally lit room and approached his bed hidden behind a blank white curtain. Tsunade peeked her head just a little past the curtain to take a look at Naruto, and the sight that greeted her was indeed a painful one. There quietly sitting on the bed was Naruto, who gazed silently at the open window with the plain white curtains fluttering in the wind that gently blew into the room, his mind deeply lost in thought, and his bandaged hands tightly gripped the pure white sheets that covered him. He had the most sorrowful and anguished look anyone had ever seen. The look on his face said it all, it told a tragic tale of bitter betrayal, bottled sadness, agonizing pain, and above all... that of a heart broken beyond repair...

-/-

That night Naruto quietly sat in his room staring out the window into the brightly lit village. Whenever Kurama was asleep and had a chance to be alone he did nothing but continued to gaze over the village and allow his mind to wonder and replay the bitter fight between him and Sasuke. He could clearly recall everything that happened that horrible day, the sour words that had been thrown at him, the hateful glares that bore into his soul, and anger filled punches and kicks that beat him down to his very core, he could remember it all. Before he knew it, warm tears glided down is face like rain on a smooth surface. He was surprised by his sudden tears and frantically went to wipe them away with his sleeves, when his own sleeves become soaked in by his tears he went for his blanket. Wiping away his never ending tears he slowly gave in and found himself sobbing and whimpering into his blanket, his muffled cries echoed throughout the noiseless empty room, his eyes became red and puffy from all of his tears.

_'Naruto-kun... I promise I'll never look away from you, I will always be watching you and you alone... No matter what I won't turn away, ever... So please, don't shed you tears anymore... Not for someone like him, especially not for someone who can't even look you in the eyes...'_

Naruto gasped at the sudden memory of the stranger and his loving words, he quickly stopped crying and began wiping his face dry of all the tears that had drenched this angelic features.

"I won't cry anymore... I won't cry... Not for him, I won't cry because of him any longer... He told me not to cry because of Sasuke... So I won't... I promise I won't anymore..."

Naruto sniffed one last time and quickly took a glance to the village before flopping into his bed and covering himself with his blanket telling himself good night. Kurama gave a faint smile and whispered good night to the unknowing blonde.

**'The rest is up to you kit, I'll continue to replay his words as many times until it leads you to the right person who has already been waiting a decade for you...'**

Unaware to the blonde that there had been people soundlessly watching him from an adjacent tree while skillfully masking their presence.

"Oh my kami-sama! Itachi-san he's so cute! I just want to hug him so much!"

Konan screeched like a school girl

"Indeed, he is very adorable. He makes me want to pamper him like he is my little brother or even as my own son."

Pein willingly admitted

"Hey Itachi, is it okay if I hug him when you guys get together?"

Konan sweetly asked, her eyes beaming with hope

"Hn, as long as you don't squeeze him to death"

"He certainly is a cute one, he stopped crying when he remembered about you. He will surely be a loyal one once you're both married~."

Sasori added smirking at the raven. Itachi faintly blushed that had luckily gone unseen by his comrades. Scratch that, the Akatsuki were actually more than just comrades, they were more like one big family that just stuck together and help one another whenever they needed it. Itachi gave the usual Uchiha trademark smirk and continued to stare at his cute blonde who had fallen fast asleep. When the four agreed that it was time for them to take their leave they each disappeared in their own style in an instant leaving no traces of their presence behind.

And so began the story of the fox and the weasel coming together to create a future that would not only affect themselves but the entire course of history as well.

-/-

**First: If you're wondering why I chose Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Iruka, Shikamaru, Neji, Hinata, and Shino, I chose them because they are all generally the ones that can keep a secret and are also still close to Naruto.**

**Second: Why I chose Konan, Pein, Sasori, and Itachi, everyone else were busy, that's all**

**I hope you enjoyed it, and if you find that I need to improve in a certain area then please do leave a review on what you think, I'd really appreciate reading what you think. And please do remember, it is my fanfiction so I can do as I please, so if you do not like my story then please refrain from making any unnecessary comments. Thank you and have a nice day.**


	2. Bonus 1

**I'm really sorry about all the inconvenience! I've been having some technical difficulties, but not to worry I managed to find a way! Anyways, I'm also sorry for taking so long updating, I really have no excuse, and for that I apologize. However! To make it up I decided to put in this bonus that I never intended, but I still will continue it, but later. Anyways... ENJOY!**

"talking"

'thinking'

**"Kurama talking"**

*actions/sounds*

_**Bonus 1: Before The Worst**_

Winter passed by seemingly much slower than the previous Winters. Gloomy dull grey clouds that once hid away blue skies whitened and became some what softer looking in comparison. The sun shined ever so brightly as how it always had during this time of year, and things seemed to have become much livelier and brighter than usual. Faded smiles and absent laughter's became more frequent bringing life back to where it was lost.

When Naruto had fully recovered from his injuries he was discharged from the hospital and was forced to stay in Konoha by the pervy old sage who was supposed to take him training, but instead just left him there and went god knows where. While Jiraiya was away Naruto spent part of his days completing D-C rank missions and on special (accidental) occasions even B- ranked; his other part was spent sitting in his apartment chugging down 10 pounds of ramen, lounging around like a bum, training himself, or just spending a little relaxation time to himself or with his friends who also had nothing to do but lounge around like bums.

Today, our little blond protagonist is currently lying down and relaxing on his bed reading the latest 'Shounen Jump' manga and eating a bag of potato chips while lightly sighing to himself every now and then. Letting out a frustrated sigh, this time more vocal, he let his arms that had previously been holding the manga over his face fall limply to his sides. Gazing towards his plain white ceiling he let his thoughts wander.

'Damn, when is that stupid pervy old sage gonna train me dammit! I don't have time for this ! I need to be out training so I can bring Sasuke back!'

Kurama let a loud sigh escape his lips as he rolled his eyes

**"Geez, honestly, I don't understand why you're so fixed on bring that idiot boy back. I mean seriously, he's the one that turned his back on you; not to mention the one that broke your heart."**

Naruto flinched a bit at the remembrance of the unwanted memories, which only succeeded in further upsetting the young boy. Kurama officially labeled himself dumb-ass and even considered slapping himself as punishment.

**"I'm sorry kit, I didn't mean what I said to be harsh or anything, but all I'm saying is that he's the one that left, it wasn't your fault, if that moron wants to leave then let him. Honestly I think- no, I know for a fact you can do better, believe me."**

Naruto rolled over to his side curling up into a ball tightly squeezing his Kakashi plush toy and buried his face into the chest of the stuffed plush.

'Gee, thanks for the advice...'

**"Come on kit! Would you just forget that brat! Are you telling me that you've already forgotten about 'him'?! Do you still like 'him' or not?! Man, I gotta say you're really unfaithful."**

'Wha- of course I remember him! Is that even a question! How could I ever even think of forgetting him?! He is and will always be the most important to me! Well, besides you, but you can't expect me to chose between you two, but that's besides the point! It's just that... It's been a really long time since we last spoke, or even seen each other for that matter... To be honest I'm not even sure if we'll ever even get a chance to meet again... Wherever he may be... And besides... I'm not even sure if he would even remotely consider_ me_ as a lover...'

Kurama clicked his fingers before waving his index finger in the air side to side speaking with more sass than any diva alive.

**"Oh please honey that ain't gonna fly, it's only been four years, so quit your whining, and seriously? _That's_ your excuse?"**

'*_gasp_* Don't sass me! That's still a really long time! And yes _that's_ my excuse!'

**-Flashback-**

It was a cool Autumn night when everything began. The day was the day of the Kyuubi festival, October 10th, the sixth anniversary of the day when the great Kyuubi no Yoko attacked and ravaged Konohagakure and fell in the hands of the Fourth Hokage. During the dreary mornings up until the afternoons, people spent most of their time mourning for their loved ones who had been forever taken away from them.

When the day wore on and the sun began to disappear behind the mountains, the gloomy clouds that hung like curtains over the village began to slowly fade into the on growing night sky. Festive lanterns brightly dangled above busy streets, street vendors roared with promises of entertainment and special prizes, joyful laughter's of buzzing children from every corner brought smiles upon the faces of their peers. Any person would think that this was just like any other cheerful and colorful festival; however, happiness isn't always something that can be given.

Arriving at the Hokage tower under the request of the Sandaime, Itachi entered the large red building and made his way towards the Hokage's office. Knocking on the entrance to the office, Itachi heard a voice from the inside the room grant him permission for entry. Entering the office and making sure to close the door behind him, he walked up towards the large brown desk littered with a few stacks of papers here and there, and gave a respectful bow before straightening himself and looking towards the Sandaime currently resting in his chair quietly staring over the brightly lit village with his chair turned towards the large glass windows. Itachi raised an eyebrow towards to awkward silence and called out to the elder making his presence known.

"Sandaime-sama, why have you called me here this evening? Is there an important mission you wish to assign me to?"

Staring at the back of the chair, Itachi stood quietly waiting for an answer.

"Yes, there is... There's someone I'd like you to protect for a while. That is unless you have a problem with protecting this person and only plan to ignore your duties..."

The Sandaime stated in a grim tone clearly expressing his discontent. Itachi's thin eyebrows furrowed as if expecting to hear that he had to protect some bastard like Danzo.

"Well I am not exactly sure who this person maybe, but I promise to give my utmost effort into protecting this person no matter who they maybe."

Hiruzen spun his chair around to face the young Uchiha. He glared at the teen in all seriousness with his eyebrows furrowed deep, his eyes were narrowed, and a large frown reflected every bitter emotion he held.

"I don't want a _promise_, what I _need_ is someone to do as I order them to. Someone I can trust NOT to defy my orders and someone who will follow their duties."

Itachi was taken aback by the sudden back lash. Hearing such harsh words coming from the usually kind and lax Sandaime was certainly an unusual thing to hear. Itachi figured that this person must be very important and of high status, or it could be that this person was just very important to the Sandaime. Itachi brought himself to on knee and gave a deep bow.

"I will follow your every order without fail, whether I am capable or not. I will not defy my duties as a Konoha shinobi for my own personal values. I will continue to do as you order me to, as well as follow the duties granted to me. Please have faith in me Sandaime-sama."

Hiruzen gave a heavy sigh and turned his chair around to face the window.

"*sighs* I'll make this quick. During this time of year, you would figure that the people of Konoha would get along with each other to mourn and celebrate together... Although for others, this is probably the most dangerous time... Especially for Uzumaki Naruto in particular..."

"The Kyuubi vessel?"

Itachi lifted his head just enough to glance at the chair. Hiruzen spun around once again staring down at the ANBU with narrowed eyes, as if expecting to hear some sort of retort.

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?"

The Sandaime spoke with an almost threatening tone. Itachi gave no signs of discomfort as he could feel the elders gaze bore into him.

"No, absolutely not Sandaime-sama"

'Isn't he the extremely happy and energetic child that always pulls off all those pranks and always competes with Sasuke?'

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and proceeded

"Very well then. As I was saying, I'm sure that you are already aware as to why this is such a dangerous time for him, yes? *Itachi nods* Well then, I need you to protect him for a while, as you are to watch over him until further notice, understand?"

"Yes Sandaime-sama."

"I also hope you do understand that if I find that you have lied to me and do not follow as ordered, then there will be consequences..."

The Sandaime emphasized. Itachi gave a stern nod not even bothering to look at the Hokage's serious and bone-chilling gaze.

"Of course Sandaime-sama."

"Good, now then, you should get going, things could be getting worse as we speak... And I apologize for such harshness, I know you don't deserve such treatment; however, I just wanted you to understand how important this matter is to me. Naruto is a good kid, someone such as him doesn't deserve such treatment. All I want is for him to be properly protected by someone who won't disregard his well-being for their own selfishness and personal values... You may leave now."

Itachi gave an understanding nod before vanishing off into thin air. After Itachi left, Hiruzen gave a good spin in his chair before stopping, placing his arms on the desk and intertwining his wrinkled fingers together, he gave a tired sigh.

"Why did things have to turn out this way... Minato... Kushina..."

Slipping off his Hokage hat, he leaned back in his chair and ran his fingers through his grey hairs on the side of his head.

**-/-**

Itachi arrived at an old apartment building that seemed to be fairly normal and seemingly harmless. Walking up the stairs and entering a small quiet hallway with steel rails on one side and a row of plain doors on the other; however, one door in particular stood out among the others. At the far end of the hallway was a lone door, but for some reason throughout the darkness, Itachi could clearly tell that this door was much different than the others. As the raven approached the door, he found that as he got closer more detail about the door began to appear. Splattered across the door and onto the ground was some sort of red liquid, and scribbled over the dry crimson liquid were words written in big bold words.

Itachi quickly rushed over to door and analyzed the mysterious red liquid. He sighed with relief as he found that it was only red paint by the strong aroma it was emitting; he activated his Sharingan and began to read the what was so aggressively written on the walls. Written in bold messy handwriting were words such as **'DEMON' 'MONSTER!' 'DIE!' 'KILLER!' 'MURDERER!'** and so forth. Itachi's blazing red eyes spun wildly glaring intensely at the words as he tightly clenched his fists.

'Such a shameful act... No child should ever be subjected to such harassment ever... I don't understand, this whole mess was never his fault to begin with...'

His thin dark brows were furrowed deep, he couldn't ever imagine having to go through such terrifying experiences every year, and at such a young age. He thought of how brave the child must have been in order to go through this kind of harassment at all, had it been any other child they would've already gone insane, or worse, try to kill themselves.

As Itachi stepped closer to the door he heard the splashing of wet paint from under his feet. Tilting his foot to glance at the dripping red paint that now stained his shoes, he took another look around and noticed that some of the paint were indeed still fresh, he also took notice of how a portion of dried paint had been splashed over by the newer, each layer being a different hue of red. With this he concluded that people must have come by the apartment door often and taken a turn at having fun with vandalizing the kid's door throughout the day.

His eyes began to narrow dangerously at the thought of the poor child curling up in some corner hoping for the day to end quickly. Face-to-face with the door now, he drew up his and began knocking on the cold metal door, as he waited he was given no answer in return, then it hit him.

'Of course... What am I thinking? Apparently I'm not. There's no way he could just blindly answer the door without confirming that it is someone who he can trust, he probably thinks I'm just another person who wishes to hurt or scare him, but how will I get inside? I need to know that he's not hurt or anything, and I don't want to have to break in or anything.'

Itachi talks a deep breath and decides to turn the door knob only to find that it is locked, he sighs in relief.

'At least it is locked, this allows me to be a bit at ease... But what shall I do now? I just need to confirm that he is safe. I guess I'll just have to take the direct route just for good measure'

He knocked on the door once again

"_A__hem_... Um, Naruto-kun? I was sent here to watch over you, so if it is alright with you could I please come in?"

No answer again... Itachi's hand fell to his side as his expression morphed into an almost sad one, he lightly sighed to himself and rubbed the back of his head.

'I knew that wouldn't work... I guess I'll have no other choice than to wait a while longer until I can directly approach the him.'

Itachi turned and leaped from the hallway to perch himself beside Naruto's bedroom window. He scanned around the surrounding of the complex and leaned closer to the window and noticed that there was a small opening in between the curtains of the boy's bedroom. Itachi activated his Sharingan and managed to get a small glimpse into the room, when he managed to catch sight of a small figure huddled into a ball covered by a blanket beside the bedroom door. The small form had their head bowed and their arms firmly wrapped around their knees which were pulled close to their chest. He could just barely catch the glimmering dull blue eyes that was locked onto the floor; he made a deep frown and looked away, unable to bare the lifeless look on the boy's delicate face. Suddenly, a light bulb lit up at the top of his head, and with whatever he had in mind his frown faded into a little smirk.

**-/-**

Naruto sat curled into a ball beside his door keeping away from the window fearing that someone might try to break in through the window. All he could do was dream of a hopeless dream that was bound to never happen, but if anything he at least wanted the day to be over quickly, not that it would really change anything. Then out of nowhere he flinched at the sound of a gentle tapping at his window. Slowly picking himself up off the ground and pushing himself further into the corner, he stared at the window with frightened eyes, cautiously he slowly approached the window already fearing the worst. He gradually slid the curtains open only to reveal that no one was there, he let out a loud vocal sigh of alleviation and placed his hand over his rapidly beating heart; he figured that the sound must have been from debris hitting his window. Then, from the corner of his eye, he noticed something resting on the outside of the window sill, he turned to see a small purple silky rectangular bag with golden flower embroideries just sitting on the sill.

He carefully took the small bag and slid the window shut making sure to lock it. He opened his palm to look at the small bag and realized that it was actually an Omamori (amulet/charm) with the blessing of safety. His eyes widened and sparkled brightly with life, he cupped the tiny bag with both hands and held it close to his heart with a gentle smile slowly began to gracing his angelic features. He placed a hand on the window and leaned on the glass looking down to the active streets searching for any signs of whoever might have left him the Omamori.

'Could it have been the wind? No, that's practically impossible... But who could have put this here? And why?'

After and while of searching he closed the curtains and backed away from the window and flopped onto his bed curling up in his blanket and falling asleep with a peaceful smile on his face.

When Itachi was sure that the boy had fallen asleep he hopped over to Naruto's balcony and just sat there staring off into space. For some unknown reason he began to feel a very warm feeling start to bubble and churn inside his chest. Placing a gloved hand over his chest, he smiled at the memory of the sweet smile that had graced the boy's beautiful face.

**-/-**

The next day Itachi was still dressed in his usual ANBU attire along with his mask on, he watched as Naruto woke up, turned away when he dressed, watched as he ate his breakfast and went on to follow him to the academy. As Itachi watched the boy he occasionally chuckled or held in a muffled laughter whenever he watched as Naruto and his younger brother Sasuke would get into a quarrel or had a glaring contest in class or competed to see who was better at what. When Naruto finished his lessons Itachi watched as he stopped by Ichiraku ate about five bowls of ramen and then headed for home with Itachi trailing not too far behind with the shadows as his cover. As Itachi continued to follow the unsuspecting boy, he noticed that there had been quite a few people sending him hateful glares and muttering insults under their breaths, and that's when he noticed that there had been a small group of people consisting of no more than four people: two were male and the other two being females. The raven narrowed his eyes as he carefully watched the group trail a good distance away from the boy making sure not to stand out in any sort of way.

When Naruto safely reached his apartment complex Itachi watched him climb up his stairs and enter his apartment listening closely to hear the locking of the door which was indeed heard. He then turned his attention back towards the group of people and noticed them nearing the boy's apartment. Figuring that they had reached far enough he leaped off of the nearby tree he had used as a means of disguise in order to watch the blonde leave his apartment (his "stalking Naruto while he leaves his apartment" tree), and stood protectively I front of the boy's apartment door. The surprised group took a step back and then suddenly started to chuckled darkly. The Uchiha felt slightly insulted by the sudden grins and laughter's, then he heard one of the men of the group begin to speak.

"Kehehe, what are you doing here_ ANBU-san?_ Aren't you people usually off doing whatever? Don't tell us you're actually gonna start doing what you're told now are ya? Come on, we've been through this before, we're all on the same side here, hehe so just step aside and let us do what we've always done."

The man said in an almost mocking tone, which only helped to anger the raven haired teen farther. As the group smirked and exchanged glances to each other they felt a sudden chill run down their spines, the air around them felt somewhat colder and filled with killing intent. Quickly facing their attention towards the source of the chilling ambiance they noticed two crimson orbs the three tomoes spinning in a slow dangerous circle around the pupil beneath the porcelain mask. They faltered backwards under the eerie gaze when they heard a low and cold voice.

"If you do not leave at once, I will have no other choice than to forcefully remove you from the premises."

They looked at each other before sneering at the ANBU and quickly turning their tails and running away. Itachi scoffed at the frightened group as they ran away with their tail between their legs.

'Humph, if you can't even stand your ground then why even bother putting up such a cocky attitude, cowards.'

Unexpectedly, he heard the sound of clicking coming from the door beside him. Peaking out from the door was a curious little blue-eyed blond boy.

Before, when Naruto had entered his apartment and settled in, he began hearing voice on the other side of the door, he waited for the loud threatening knocking and voices as he had always heard before, but none came. He became slightly interested in the unexpected silence and went to investigate the source of the noise. However, once he opened the door he found that no one was there, tilting his head he shrugged it off and closed the door again and making sure to lock it behind him.

'Heh, a curious one aren't you?'

Itachi mused to himself. Later on that same night, as Naruto prepared for bed he caught the same gentle tapping noise he had heard the night before. Approaching his window and cautiously shifting his curtain aside he searched outside for any unexpected visitors (not that he wanted any). Again he found no one, but he did manage to see a little folded paper sitting on his window sill. Sliding the window open and picking up the piece of paper, he expected to see some sort of death threat on it, but instead it was... a smiley face? Naruto tilted his head in confusion, but figured that it was probably just a sign that the stranger was friendly, he grinned and giggled to himself.

"hehe, thank you"

He whispered with a cute smile on his face. After seconds of staring at the paper he began to slide his window close, his curtains following not too long behind, unknowing of the friendly visitor that had been watching and listening in on him. When Itachi gazed upon the adorable smile of the little blond and the sweet ringing of the boy's laughter his breath hitched and he could feel his heart almost skip a beat. He had no idea what he had felt, but it wasn't exactly an unwelcoming feeling either. In fact if anything it would only help to fuel Itachi's need to protect and watch over the boy.

**- Flashback End -**

_To be continued..._

**Please feel free to review!**


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